1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for baking yeast based products and the like and for the elimination of undesirable by-products that had previously been exhausted into the atmosphere from the apparatus. The elimination of the by-products is achieved by capturing the by-products, namely ethanol, in the exhaust from the baking chamber in an indirect fired oven and passing the by-products through the main burners of the oven that are already required for the oven's heating system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, the traditional manner of baking bread produces by-products. These baking by-products are ethanol (ethyl alcohol), water vapor and assorted gases, that, heretofore, have been exhausted or emitted into the atmosphere outside the bake oven. The ethanol in these by-products that had been emitted into the atmosphere proportionally cause air pollution problems. The ethanol by-product had been controlled with an afterburner system that incinerated the ethanol by heating the exhaust stream to a suitable temperature. While this method was able to reduce ethanol emissions, it wasted energy since the heat from the combustion was generally not used. Also, this system caused other pollution.
The present invention avoids the use of afterburners that consume gas or oil, in addition to the gas or oil necessary for baking. The present invention preserves the volume of the exhaust from the bake chamber of the oven in order to eliminate the moisture given up by the bread dough so that the breads are properly baked. This exhaust stream will also contain ethanol evaporated from the bread.